Performance of the apple (Malus domestica Borkh) cultivar Imperial Double Red Delicious grafted on five rootstocks

Abstract

The performance of the apple (Malus domestica Borkh) cultivar Imperial Double Red Delicious (Imperial D.R.D.) grafted on the following 5 rootstocks: (i) seedling, (ii) M 7, (iii) MM 104, (iv) MM 106, and (v) MM 109 was investigated. The highest yield per tree was recorded for trees on seedling rootstock, while the lowest for the cultivar grafted on M 7. Production efficiency of Imperial D.R.D. was higher when grafted on MM 106 and M 7, intermediate on seedling and MM 104, and the lowest on MM 109. The highest leaf photosynthetic rate (Pn) was measured for scions grafted on seedling although it was not significantly different from MM 109. Nitrogen concentrations of leaves of the cv. Imperial D.R.D. grafted on M 7 and MM 106 were significantly lower in comparison to the seedling variant. Flesh firmness at harvest, pH of juice at harvest, soluble solids content and titratable acidity at harvest and after four months of storage were not significantly different among the rootstocks.